She is doing what many sport crazy athletes dream of every day,
training full time and competing in some of the most exciting races
internationally. Caroline Koll, one of South Africa’s top female
triathletes, describes being a professional triathlete as the best
job in the world! She is living her dream, but success comes with
hard work.
To explain the origins of one’s athletic career requires a
significant amount of retrospection. The reason one embarks on a
journey in endurance sport is most often a quest for self
satisfaction. I cannot recall a specific day when I decided to
become an athlete, nor have I ever considered myself to have
exceptional natural talent. Rather, talent and success came with
hard work.
FAMILY TIES I was born to immigrant parents,
a stern German father and an even sterner French mother. I am sure
that I acquired my adventurous side from them; after all, to come
from ‘civilised’ Europe to darkest Africa in the 60s was no small
feat! My schoolteacher mother instilled a strong sense of discipline
in my older sister and me from a young age. In fact, education was
considered of primary importance, and there was no play until the
homework was done, and I mean all the homework!
I come from a non-sporting family, so my initial enjoyment of
sport actually came from outdoor play with the local neighbourhood
boys. I was not strong enough to tackle for a rugby ball (and it
hurt!), so I employed the strategy that if I ran fast enough, I
wouldn’t get caught or hurt! Climbing trees was also a firm
favourite. It required a slight build, agility and brains. I became
an accomplished tree climber, and this could have become my career
of choice, were it not for the day I decided to see if I could ‘fly’
out of the tree, and fell heavily to the ground, tearing all the
ligaments in my ankle. My thinking was that at least I had tried,
and discovered for myself what was and wasn’t possible. It is very
much this line of thinking that has driven me through my sporting
career.
FINDING MY WAY My first taste of conventional
sport came in primary school, where, fortunately, I was exposed to a
variety of sports. Having been blessed with poor eyesight (I say
blessed because it forced me to focus harder on the things that I
could do), I was obliged to wear rather thick glasses that, apart
from being cumbersome and impractical, often caused me to bear the
brunt of school bullies. I decided that if I could be better than
those kids at something, they could not take that away from me. I
started off my quest with a variety of sports, but it was swimming
and running that I enjoyed most in the PE classes.
As I mentioned, sports in my home was never a priority, so there
was never a chance that my parents would send me to a coach of any
sort. Besides, at that stage I thought only good athletes went for
coaching. I never suspected that you might actually go to a coach in
order to become good! So my inspiration came from watching my
mother, who can swim only breaststroke (and never gets her hair
wet), and my older sister in our little pool at home. My sister,
four years older, was naturally bigger and faster and I remember
finding this very annoying. I decided that if I couldn’t beat her, I
would swim further than her! I would set challenges for myself, like
swimming a hundred lengths of the pool (which measured a whole ten
metres in length). Eventually, when my eyes were bloodshot from the
chlorine and the sun had gone down, my mother would threaten me with
a hiding if I did not get out of the pool! Even though I could
hardly see a thing without my glasses (and I couldn’t swim with them
on for practical reasons), I enjoyed the school swimming galas and
was especially proud that I did not come last!
MY LOVE FOR RUNNING It was in high school
that I developed my love for running. I tried almost every sport
available at the school, but with a complete lack of hand/eye
co-ordination, I was usually the last one picked for any team! The
school athletics season brought with it requests for anyone who was
willing to run, especially in the middle and longer distances. I was
‘anyone’! With a bit of encouragement from the high school coach, I
soon realised that I could actually run quite well, and I went on to
win some 800m events at the inter high school league meetings. No
serious achievements by a long stretch, but it developed the love
for running and competition that I have today.
TRIATHLONS My involvement in triathlons only
came about at age 20 when I was a student at Wits University. With
no access to a club and no car to get to races, I was at a loose end
when it came to athletics and merely ran at home to keep fit and get
some air. It was at the local gym that I saw a leaflet for a
triathlon taking place in my hometown of Benoni. I decided I was up
for the challenge!
My first triathlon was a challenge to say the least. Even though
I was a capable swimmer, I didn’t realise that one actually had to
navigate and by the end of the swim, I found myself firmly planted
in an outcrop of reeds, and firmly in second last place! I did
finish the race that day, and it became the starting point of my
career in triathlon.
When it comes to triathlon, the driving factor for me has always
been the belief that I could do better. Even if you win a race,
there is always someone out there who is better than you and can
beat you. Chasing your best performance is what defines the
dream.
RACING ABROAD After completing an honours
degree in politics, I decided to spend a couple of months racing
abroad in France. I did some research and eventually found a club
that was willing to take me on, just outside of Paris. It was a
brave move, going overseas on my own, not knowing anyone, but it
turned out to be one of the best life experiences! Having won the
junior ranks back home, I thought that this would continue in the
French club races. Instead, I got a whipping of note! The triathlon
clubs in France are very well organised, and the standard, even back
then, was very high. I ended up consoling myself with French
pastries, but determined to come back a better athlete. For the next
few years I worked at a local bike shop back home, which hardly made
me rich but allowed me more flexibility to train. I would save every
cent I made to go and race in France during the SA winter. Every
time I went back, I would get a bit stronger and a bit faster. The
experiences I gained there, I could not have gotten staying home. I
eventually started gaining podiums and even winning races in France,
which was highly motivating for me. I relished in the atmosphere of
the French races – I mean where else in the world are you served
lunch after the race? Meeting other athletes from all over the world
was also a very enriching experience. Even to this day, I have
friends stationed in all corners of the globe!
LOCAL BREAKTHROUGH Locally, the breakthrough
year for me was 2003 when I won the elite category of the South
African Championships. It was a surprise for some, but I wanted
nothing more than to prove to myself that I could win. Unfortunately
the Olympic dream was never going to happen for me. We were required
to race the World Cup Circuit and obtain sufficient points to be
ranked in the top 50 in the world. At the time, the cost of
competing in these races was entirely our own and we did not receive
any support at all. I tried, at great personal expense, but it was
nearly impossible to maintain a top position when competing with
wealthier nations who fully supported their athlete’s campaigns on
the circuit. Apart from that, I don’t think that I ever swam fast
enough to get into the front pack of an international race and be a
serious contender.
IRONMAN My interest in long course triathlons
came from reading the exploits of Raynard Tissink, who I think has
played an integral role in bringing the lure of Ironman events to
South Africa. At the age of 23 I did my first Ironman in Gordon’s
Bay. Ironically, I had had an altercation with a car three weeks
before, and broke my ribs and collar bone. I ended up in hospital
and in my delusional state was apparently causing quite a scene
because I was afraid of catching the flu from the other patients!
The doctor told me to rest for six weeks. I told the doctor I would
rest for three days. True to my word, I was back in the pool three
days after the accident, and three weeks later, I raced my first
Ironman with a broken collar bone. I finished way down in 11:35, but
the challenge of Ironman was real! Competing in an Ironman is
primarily a challenge to one’s self, and then a competition against
others.
I have since competed in many Ironman races. I can’t remember how
many. For me, it is only the last one that counts and how you are
going to improve in the next one. Sometimes you take a step forward,
other times you go backwards, and that is what makes racing the
Ironman so hard. I have finished on the podium (third in Ironman
Korea 2006), and I have failed miserably, even walking 28km (Ironman
Cozumel 2009)! When people ask, “When are you going to give it up
and get a real job?” I can only reply, “I have the best job in the
world – chasing my dream!” How many people can honestly say
that?
Career Highlights South African Elite Champion – Long Course
(2002; 2010) South African Elite Champion – Olympic Distance
(2003) Third in Ironman Korea (2006) Fifth in Ironman South
Africa (2009) Third in Powerman Malaysia (2009) Third in
Ostseeman Germany (2009) Ninth in 70.3 Switzerland First at
Vaal Marathon in 2:55 (2010)
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